


Of Girls Who Chase After Wolves

by FlyingNymphLady



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, F/F, Femslash, Legends, Multi, Red Riding Hood - Freeform, lords and ladies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-16 23:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4643859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingNymphLady/pseuds/FlyingNymphLady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lady Allison can't help but chase after a mysterious woman in woods that are seemingly haunted by legends of wolves. Her companion, Lady Martin, doesn't believe in these legends but she believes in Allison and she's willing to follow her everywhere this takes them...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Girls Who Chase After Wolves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [polytropic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/polytropic/gifts).



> Hey there polytropic, I hope you enjoy this fic! It was really such a treat to write and I gotta say I think I fell just a little bit in love with this pairing despite never having written for them before. Maybe I might even write for them again outside of the exchange! Hope you enjoy!

She should go back, should return the guards' calls but all reasonable thought had left her. She felt driven, compelled to carry on through the brambles and thorns. This excursion from her caretaker had begun a whimsical adventure but now was something much grander and much more obscure.

There was no path to follow but her mystery led her deeper into the woods, the trees growing taller and thicker as she pushed onward. The glimmer of sun splashed in between the blanket of forest, red following the mysterious object as it floated further away.

Allison. Allison.

She couldn't turn back, not yet. She felt as though she could almost touch the red-- touch the glimmering sunlight that traveled through the woods like magic. She was so close but she could hardly explain what made her desire the glimmering light so... Could hardly say what it was that pressed her forward. But she couldn't stop.

Allison.

She dropped her skirts as she stumbled against a tree only to hike them up again as she regained the chase with vigor. The light seemed to have almost waited for her that brief moment, almost as if it were taunting her to follow it now no longer running but rather leading her.

She came so close she felt as though she could grasp the red fabric that flowed behind the sun. Suddenly, without warning Allison was swept off her feet, the blood-red cloth rippling into the distance. She struggled and clawed at what barred her way, despairing as the mysterious creature flew from her grasp.

“Lady Allison, Lady Allison stop! What do you think you’re doing?” A familiar voice chanted, slowing rekindling her senses with it’s mollifying tone. 

“I was… I was…” Her body slowed its thrashing as she began to recall the events which had just transpired. “There was a girl… A girl with blonde hair…”

“Lady Allison, there is no one in these woods but our caravan. A caravan we must return to and I fear where we must look into your health for you seem to have fallen ill in the mind.”

“But the…I’m fine…,” Allison resolved, relinquishing her protests as she lost herself in her own thoughts. She knew what she had seen but she couldn’t figure out how she had seen it. These woods were, strange. Too strange for a lady like herself to be wandering in and most definitely too strange for any girl to be in, “My eyes must have tricked me in this lighting.”

“Of course my lady. If it pleases you, we must be returning. Your lady mother is worried and no doubt is taking it out on your lord father.” The squire prompted her, loosening his grip around her waist and gently taking her hand to guide her back respectfully. 

“Of course… Thank you good syr,” Allison murmured, grasping his hand and taking a step back toward the caravan, her footsteps now so unsure. She stumbled again and the guard tightened his grip on her arm, preventing her from falling onto her face. 

Looking up from the ground that had so closely been her downfall, Allison turned and placed a meaningful hand on the squire’s, thanking him with the soft smile of her lips. The true charms of a lady. She was proper, very proper in her training as a lady but also she was grateful. “Thank you syr.” 

He returned the smile with a flustered gusto that showed plainly his lack of higher conduct, completely blind-sided by the small touch of her training. She held her smile as she observed him, her touch comforting as she derived her own small amount of pleasure from the act. Her soft smile fell as her gaze wandered to the woods behind him, startling as she caught the gaze of someone in the trees. Whirling in shock she almost dragged her young squire back with her as she bolted for the caravan. 

The woman who had gazed back at her…She gazed deeply into her eyes with a look only the oldest parts of her soul recognized. 

Lady Allison felt terrified by the feeling, by its possibilities. She ran with the squire, bolted to escape the feeling which had so recently trapped her in it’s hypnotic pull. 

When she had been following the mysterious mixture of red cloth and flowing sunlight she felt… wild. 

And that was certainly not something a Lady was allowed to feel. 

\--- 

Lady Martin, a beauty far beyond her wealth, had long made her home in the halls of greater families than her own. One family in particular, the Argents, had been a longtime favorite of the great beauty and she had grown strong ties to their daughter Lady Allison. Who, upon learning of the Martins’ planned departure overseas, had insisted upon taking Lady Martin into their home rather than part with her. The redhead was delighted by the offer and had accepted this display of friendship with deep gratitude.

Fair as she was, Lady Martin also kept a great mind on her shoulders. This was the reason Allison loved her so. For she was the only one in the entirety of the castle that the brunette trusted so earnestly. Allison of course had her Lady mother and Lord father as Lydia had her own set of parents but there were some things that young women desired to share only with companions of their own validity. 

For these reasons Allison was drawn to Lydia, pressing upon her the truth of the woods which she had kept a secret for weeks. 

Lydia was in a word, skeptical of her friend’s tale but she at least listened to Allison without interruption. This was more than the other ladies had cared to do. Allison in her own right was grateful to her dear friend, grateful and relieved. For Lydia was the only one in the castle to give her an open ear and it blessed Allison with a the chance to feel sane again, to feel validated. A rare thing even for a Lord's daughter, especially for a Lord's daughter who had so much to live up to; for one day she would be the sole heir to their lands and it would be her decisions that shaped it for better or worse.

What amazed Lady Martin the most about the tale was the earnesty in Allison's voice, in her features. Lydia had, from a very young age learnt the ways and patterns of a liar. Her mother, the elder Lady Martin, had found it a wise and valuable trade for a young girl to learn for they were the ones to become young women. And if Lydia was to become a proper young woman she would have to choose a proper suitor. The elder Lady Martin would allow no dishonorable man or woman take her daughter away from her, money or title be damned.

This trained eye allowed Lydia a unique look into her friend's story and she was enchanted by the truth in it. There was more Lydia knew Allison had to tell but when Allison’s Lady mother entered the room, all conversation of the incident in the forest was immediately halted.

Allison greeted her Lady mother respectfully as did her companions, all equally surprised when the elder Lady Argent sat down with them and picked up an unfinished stitch. She was a strong woman as many Argents are but her calculating gaze and viper’s smile kept most people at bay, her daughter included in some regards. Such was the case with the incident...

\---  
“Lady Martin, I confess that this doesn’t seem the proper thing to do…” Allison voiced her concerns in hushed whispers, looking nervously around the stable for signs that they were being watched. 

The redheaded Lady seemed far more interested in checking the sinches of the horses bellies, a skill she had learned after witnessing a fellow gentleborn fall rather ungracefully from his mount because the staddle had been tampered with after the stablehand had prepared it. The gentleborn lad had not died from the fall but his injuries had been serious and remained deeply ingrained in Lydia’s mind long after the boy had healed. 

Finally satisfied that the saddles were safe she turned to Allison and placed a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, “Lady Allison, I’ve seen to all of the preparations and have even taken the liberty of informing your Lady mother that we are going for a ride today. We wouldn’t possibly be more proper if we wanted to.”

“Yes but Lydia our intended jaunt is no where near where we proclaimed we were going… What if they should need us or what if something terrible should happen while we're gone?”

 

“Allison we won’t be gone but an hour past, we’ve been gone for far greater a time before and nothing short of a cooking accident has happened in our absence. All will be well I promise.” Lydia gave her friend another comforting squeeze before sliding her hand down to Allison’s gloved one, leading her to the Argent’s prized riding pony, “Up you go, the longer we wait the less light we’ll have to go looking for your mysterious woman with the blood red cloak.”

\---  
Riding in the forest was much more delightful than Lady Allison had first envisioned. She still carried with her the childish tales of the forest- it’s pack of wild wolves, the owners of the forest. They had been the creatures of her nightmares till shortly before her tenth nameday. They were bloody but fictitious tyrants who attacked anyone who declared to claim any part of the forest. The only people who dared stay in this forest were traveling merchants. Everyone else was wise enough to claim this place a no man’s land where the Lord and Ladies’ lands were concerned. 

Lady Martin on the other hand had never believed in these tales so for her the ride was nothing truly spectacular, merely a ride the same as any other she had taken. The only difference in this one was Allison’s tale of the blonde woman who had disappeared and reappeared during the chase Allison had described. She made Lydia feel… intrigued. 

Eventually the pair came to the place the caravan had once stayed the night. It was a small clearing with barely enough room to fit an immediate accompaniment much less an entourage but because the land was a dead man’s land no Lady or Lord ever paid someone to clear it. Most serfs were also superstitious and believed in the wild wolves of the woods so it made finding the right people for the job more trouble than it was worth.

The two Ladies made the decision to tie their mounts to trees before continuing further. The vegetation beyond the clearing and trail looked uncertain at best and the girls couldn’t afford for one of their mount’s to falter in step and hurt themselves. The path was at the very least acceptable for human travel.  
At first, their journey into the uncut growth seemed to be a fool’s quest and Allison began to doubt if in fact she had done the right thing allowing herself, and Lydia, to pursue this seemingly non existent mirague. Her mother had taught her to be strong in her convictions but her Lady mother had also counseled her to forget the nonsensical vision of a red cloaked woman in these woods. Allison began to fear that her mother’s second ruling was the wiser one but suddenly she heard Lydia call from her right,

“Allison! Quickly, come look at this!”

Rushing to her companion’s side Allison spotted the streak of red on the tree before she had even reached Lydia. Stumbling a step in her excitement Allison could hardly contain herself when she finally held the strip in her hand. 

“It’s real! Lady Martin do you- It’s real!” Allison breathed in awe. She caressed the fabric lovingly, honoring it’s very real confirmation of her tale. It was the same cloth, the same red cloth that the mysterious woman had been wearing that day. Allison had been right about what she’d seen. 

“Lady Allison,” Lydia spoke gently, touching her wrist with tentative fingers, “Allison- Look.” 

Slowly tearing her eyes from the holied fabric Allison followed Lydia’s instructions, her mouth dropping as she saw what lay ahead of her. Scattered throughout the trees ahead, dozens of red strips swayed in the breeze. 

“Whoever you were following that day, it looks like they were hoping you’d still come…”

“Do you think we should?” Allison looked to Lydia, a small trickle of her old fears coming back, “What if it’s a trap…?”

“I don’t think so…” Lydia said after a moment of thought. This didn’t seem the kind of thing a liar would do… more so an earnest person pleading with someone. Of course without knowing anything about this woman beyond what Allison had told her; pleading could be a much more dangerous motive… “I think we’ll be alright. Besides, I trust you haven’t forgotten what your father taught us.”

“Of course not.” 

\---  
“I swear if I fall one more time, I’ll rip this gown right off of my body!” Lydia grumbled in extreme anger. She hadn’t fallen nearly as much as Allison had but her pride in her Martin grace made the falls she suffered much worse. 

“Lady Martin, you can’t,” Allison reminded her with a helping hand to right her once again, “If we rip these gowns my Mother and Father will ask us how it happened. We can’t very well tell them what we’re up to can we?”

“I suppose not,” Lydia agreed brushing off the loose vegetation that had yet to fall back to the ground on it’s own. 

“Have we lost the trail do you think?” Allison questioned after surveying the forest before them once again. There had been no strip of cloth for quite some time and Allison was beginning to despair once more. She could finally touch the red cloak but still the mysterious woman with the hair of sunlight evaded her. 

“No… no.” Lydia said more firmly, “I don’t think we’re supposed to follow any more strips of cloth. I think we’re supposed to go over there…” 

“That cave?” Allison bubbled in surprise. She couldn’t say she’d ever been in a cave in all her life, certainly not since she could remember. She considered turning back, returning to what she knew but something about this proposition made her spine tingle with excitement. 

“Come on Lady Allison,” Lydia took her hand, giving her a gentle pull, “Let’s see what we can before we have to get back. It’s almost certainly past when I told your Lady mother you’d be back but I don’t want to finish this journey without learning who you saw. They obviously want to see you again.”

“I want to know too…” Allison concurred, taking toward the cave with such strides that she was quickly the one leading. 

At first the cave became progressively darker the farther in they wandered but within only twenty paces or so the pair began to notice a strange odor permeating the air. It smelt almost like… perfume and meat cooking. Lady Allison, fueled by her curiosity lead the pair toward the smell, winding in and out of small caverns to find it. It took the a couple of wrong turns but soon enough they found themselves coming upon the most surprising thing. The tunnel did not only lead to the source of the smell but also a large, open clearing that seemed so big it might fit all of a Lord’s traveling accompaniment comfortably. 

“You actually came!” 

Allison’s eyes, unadjusted to the bright light of the clearing, could only make out the vague shape of a woman who seemed to be glowing. Allison squinted but found it unnecessary as the figure advanced toward them, hardly breaking stride before running Allison over. 

 

“I… I did. We found the strips of your cloak in the forest. You left them for me?” Lady Allison asked the now visible woman in awe. She seemed unreal to the young heiress, even standing here before her.   
“I did, though I wasn’t certain you’d actually return… Your guards were quite anxious to get you back on the path.” The blonde woman smiled, her white teeth sticking out against her colored face like diamonds. Her smile seemed to extend to Lady Martin, who was behind Allison, and so the redhead took her own ground beside her friend.

“Why were you trying to lead her away from the caravan?” Lady Martin asked, her wit as sharp as ever, especially now that Allison seemed lost in the glamour of this woman. Lydia would admit she also felt something toward the blonde but that feeling would have to wait in reserve until Lydia’s final judgement could be placed upon her.

“If it please you, my ladies,” a small bow came from the blonde. It was inexperienced but practiced and Lydia felt a small but unquestionable shiver traveled up her spine. Allison was brought to a giddy smile, somehow delighted by the effort put before her. It was clean this mystery woman had little experience in the art of courtly conduct, “I wanted to see you out here, in my world Lady Allison. I wanted the chance to talk to you but you were found too quickly.”

“Talk to me? Whatever for?” Lady Allison drew her brows to a quizzical stare. She could swear she’d never once met this woman before the day in the woods. What could she possibly want from her? 

“You do realize,” Lady Martin interrupted, calmly but with strict authority, “It's not very fair for you to know her name but not the opposite be true. How shall we refer to you before we answer any more questions. This current method isn’t very proper.” 

“If it please my ladies, my name is Erica Reyes, of the Hale clan, governess of this forest.” 

The ladies looked at each other in pure surprise. This, dare Lydia say it, beautiful woman before them claimed to be a wild wolf. A protector of the forest. 

“You both look...” Erica tilted her head to the side, a habit from her times spent in her alternative form. As a wolf it served to help her hear better, now though it only served to demonstrate her confused response to the Ladies expressions before her, “as though you disbelieve me.”

“Well… the wild wolves of these woods are supposed to be vicious creatures who tear apart the bodies of travelers who stay too long in their woods or harm it in some way.” Allison remembered the verses clearly in her head, as though her Lady mother had been reciting them right then and there. 

Erica seemed to find this amusing and did indeed chuckle a few times before regaining herself, “If it please you-”

“Please,” Allison interrupted more gently. There was something about this meeting that called for a sense of informality in her, regardless of what Lydia seemed to think was protocal, “Just address us as Allison and Lydia. And no more court talk. We are in your cave, it’s clear you have different customs here.” 

“Indeed we do, Allison,” Erica smiled again and Lydia felt the shiver run up her spine a second time but she refused to acknowledge it yet she still wasn’t certain of Erica’s intentions though she seemed to be close to revealing them. “Lydia. Please follow me though do watch yourself. This place isn’t meant for gowns such as yours. It can be rather unforgiving to those who don’t dress to it’s specifications. Somewhat like your courts I’ve been lead to believe.”

\---  
Erica the governess lead the pair down into the clearing of the cavern and straight across to a steeply descending bank that lead to a small river. One could wade through it but not without getting their clothes wet. 

Generously, after accessing the Ladies predicament, Erica offered her services to the pair and carried them across the river one at a time. In truth she enjoyed the opportunity to hold Allison so close and was delighted to find she had a similar feeling carrying Lydia across. While carrying the redheaded beauty she noticed some of her hair touched the water but Erica didn’t say anything, enjoying how the strands danced atop the stream. 

What Erica had to show them was the wolves’ account of the generations and generations of protecting the forest;their homes. Erica could find none of the reasoned accounts Allison described to her about her kind but she could find stories with the same people she called ‘victims’ only under wolf law they were the ‘criminals’.

“So the wolves, they don’t attack just as they feel?” 

“No. Can you find a way to believe that?” Erica asked, hoping dearly it would be the answer she wanted.

Allison and Lydia looked to the wall, reviewing the blow Erica had just landed upon them. 

Lydia was much quicker with her response but the answer was the same: “Yes.”

“Alright then,” Erica smiled and walked away from them without a second glance. When she came to stand by another similar slab with glyphics on it she looked directly to Allison. “This, Allison, is us.” 

“Yes, us. Though I do now suspect you might have some of this in you too Lydia.” Lydia gave the supposed governess a mild look of surprise but waited to hear more before deciding how to properly react. The story Erica told here was one of hunters and wolves- werewolves to be more exact. What Erica was. She described of times before and after hunters rose to prominence in the kingdoms, choosing to excommunicate their link with werewolves rather than use it to help them grow and flourish. It wasn’t just a bond that connected the hunters to the wolves, it connected the wolves to the hunters allowing each species to take the best of both traits. However, when the question of land ownership came into play the hunters took from the wolves by slaughtering them and thereby acquiring their land. 

“Because we were of a peaceful nature toward humans and believed many of them connected with us, we didn’t fight back until all we had were loosely linked pockets of land that the humans could use their knowledge of the wolves against them.”

“What happened to the wolves?” Allison asked, her mind engrossing itself in what Erica was saying, the words nagging at her brain like a loose string on a fine gown. 

“They fought back, tooth and nail until the newly self-appointed Lords and Ladies eventually gave up on the hunt and choose instead to declare woods like these a no man’s land. Made for no man but only us beasts. However when their roads began to cross our lands we made the choice not to senselessly kill them. These lords and Ladies were from a generation that knew only of us as the vicious beasts their ancestors had told them. They couldn’t feel the bond our two species had once shared.” 

“So why bring this to Allison now, if it was so long ago. Why would you want the bond back? I thought you said your pack had chosen to give up on it?” Lydia questioned, her mind firing off solutions only half as fast as her brain could find new questions. The new source of information was incredible, so much so she felt herself swayed closer to liking Erica ever so slightly. 

“The thing is, we wolves have grown attached to our homes and our new pact with the forests we live in. However, after the movement of wolves and the losses of some others. I find myself unable to governor and protect this forest on my own. I was left in charge of this section that your family lives in but it is a large area… I would be grateful for the support of some old friends. It would also be beneficial to you as well to finally have the no man’s land tied to you so closely.” Erica was if nothing, a wonderful conversationalist. Her alpha, Laura Hale, had left her in charge of this region with the resounding faith that should a problem arise, Erica would be able to talk her way out of it. 

“You would like… You proposing a…” Allison felt backhanded by the boldness of Erica’s proposal. It was true she had asked Erica to be informal with her but the bluntness of such a request, it came as a shock to Allison’s deeply rooted mannerisms of a lady. 

“You’re asking her to court you as a gentleborn lady with the promise of the no man’s land if you wed?” Lydia clarified with a certain refiner that she was certain Allison needed if her babbled words were anything to go by. Lydia, while having also been raised with the mannerisms of a lady knew much of bartering from her mother who had believed it essential in picking a good match. 

“I am. I’m also willing to create a friendlier trail of passage and more of a humanoid presence along the roads to ease the travelers to and from your land’s. Please do know that if you accept my offer of courtship I am not asking solely because of the circumstances we find ourselves in but also the feelings I have for you. They are young and through our courtship I would indeed enjoy the opportunity to cultivate them into a flourishing flower.” 

“If I am to go to anyone wed, I must take Lady Martin- Lydia with me.” Allison reached for Lydia’s hand, grasping it tightly as she considered the offer before her. She felt so sudden and wild around Erica, much different from her proper self but the wild look she had seen and indeed still could see in Erica’s eyes begged for her to be reckless and to not consider this as she should. “Do you understand?”

“Take with you?” Erica felt as though she were the one hosting a party to wild beings, these girls had such strange ideas. Erica had tried to understand many of them, she really had, “If Lydia would like I will also court her and take you both under our laws but we do not normally take people with us, away from their families.” 

And like that it was back to Allison and Lydia to look at Erica with oddity in their features. This was perhaps the most common form of communication among the women for several months to come after this first meeting. 

It was a strange and often times exhilarating part of their young ladyhoods. Through the bonds that developed Erica gave both of the ladies a rather emboldened wild streak but it hardly stopped them from proper etiquette around their courtyards. They saved this boldness for rides out to the forest to visit their blonde courter. There they learned to ruffhouse and do many of the things they had been discouraged from learning as children. It was a courtship that remained hidden only as long as the stabblehands’ mouths were shut, an incredibly brief amount of time it turned out but Lady Allison and Lady Martin chose to continue the courtship even though it was widely talked about in the towns the Argents provided over. 

For each courtier in their group, a red ribbon was laced around their arm in reverence to the red cloak that had brought them each into the woods. 

Eventually the courtship progressed to a point where it was necessary for Lady Erica to be introduced to the Argent’s court but Lydia and Allison hardly let her go unprepared. They spent many visits to Erica’s practicing and preening her for the event until the night finally arrived when Erica stunned the crowd with her conversationalist charm. She by no means won over all the crowd but enough of them were willing to accept her upon finally being able to put a face to the vicious wild wolves of the woods. 

Erica was, and always would be if she had any say in it, true to her word. The courtship she conducted with Lady Allison and Lady Martin was far the romance of circumstance. She worked tirelessly to show them that she wanted their affections and in turn got some back. She made they feel empowered and even took lessons from them in defensive fighting, something Lord Argent had taught the girls. 

Lady Allison had wandered into the woods, beckoned by an unforeseeable bond but she could honestly surmise she couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome than this. 

They were the beginning of something different, something unique. And they would be this difference together. It wasn’t just the increase in lands or the new policies of road travel. Allison could have courted a wealthier Lord or Lady for much more. It was about changing things, correcting something that the past couldn’t forget. They were the beginning of a better future.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the end, I hope you liked it! I would love to hear your thoughts below :)


End file.
